Best British and Irish movies i've seen

by karlbaber-1 | created - 02 Jan 2013 | updated - 02 Jan 2013 | Public

In no particular order

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1. Trainspotting (1996)

R | 93 min | Drama

83 Metascore

Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out despite the allure of drugs and the influence of friends.

Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd

Votes: 729,447 | Gross: $16.50M

2. Secrets & Lies (1996)

R | 136 min | Comedy, Drama

92 Metascore

Following the death of her adoptive parents, a successful young black optometrist establishes contact with her biological mother -- a lonely white factory worker living in poverty in East London.

Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Claire Rushbrook

Votes: 47,441 | Gross: $13.42M

3. Vera Drake (2004)

R | 125 min | Crime, Drama

83 Metascore

Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain--a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family.

Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, Richard Graham

Votes: 27,005 | Gross: $3.75M

4. Shallow Grave (1994)

R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

67 Metascore

Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.

Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Ken Stott

Votes: 66,639 | Gross: $2.88M

5. The Magdalene Sisters (2002)

R | 114 min | Drama

83 Metascore

Three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.

Director: Peter Mullan | Stars: Eileen Walsh, Dorothy Duffy, Nora-Jane Noone, Anne-Marie Duff

Votes: 28,580 | Gross: $4.89M

6. Angela's Ashes (1999)

R | 145 min | Biography, Drama

54 Metascore

An Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prejudice and alcoholism as the family endures harsh slum conditions.

Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens

Votes: 23,357 | Gross: $13.04M

7. My Left Foot (1989)

R | 103 min | Biography, Drama

97 Metascore

Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.

Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan, Kirsten Sheridan

Votes: 80,236 | Gross: $14.74M

8. The Crying Game (1992)

R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

90 Metascore

A British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson

Votes: 60,408 | Gross: $62.55M

9. Notting Hill (1999)

PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

68 Metascore

A set of circumstances makes Anna Scott, a famous actress, fall in love with William Thacker, owner of a bookstore in Notting Hill. But the paparazzi's fascination with her complicates their bond.

Director: Roger Michell | Stars: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Richard McCabe, Rhys Ifans

Votes: 344,032 | Gross: $116.09M

10. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

R | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

81 Metascore

Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love.

Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, James Fleet, Simon Callow

Votes: 166,953 | Gross: $52.70M

11. Eden Lake (2008)

R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller

65 Metascore

Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.

Director: James Watkins | Stars: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis, Jack O'Connell

Votes: 95,352 | Gross: $0.01M

12. Made in Dagenham (2010)

R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, History

65 Metascore

A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.

Director: Nigel Cole | Stars: Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Andrea Riseborough, Jaime Winstone

Votes: 16,191 | Gross: $1.09M

13. Donkey Punch (2008)

R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Horror

43 Metascore

Things go drastically wrong for a group of British holidaymakers in Spain.

Director: Olly Blackburn | Stars: Sian Breckin, Nichola Burley, Jaime Winstone, Robert Boulter

Votes: 11,605 | Gross: $0.02M

14. Casino Royale (2006)

PG-13 | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

80 Metascore

After earning 00 status and a licence to kill, secret agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007. Bond must defeat a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro.

Director: Martin Campbell | Stars: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright

Votes: 698,050 | Gross: $167.45M

15. You Only Live Twice (1967)

PG | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

61 Metascore

James Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.

Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Tetsurô Tanba

Votes: 118,125 | Gross: $43.08M

16. Goldfinger (1964)

PG | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

87 Metascore

While investigating a gold magnate's smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.

Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe, Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton

Votes: 203,508 | Gross: $51.08M

17. The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995)

PG | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

When an English cartographer must tell a Welsh village that their mountain is only a hill, the offended community sets out to change that.

Director: Christopher Monger | Stars: Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Colm Meaney, Ian McNeice

Votes: 18,849 | Gross: $10.90M

18. Dog Soldiers (2002)

R | 105 min | Action, Horror, Thriller

A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scottish wilderness.

Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby, Liam Cunningham

Votes: 65,990

19. 28 Days Later (2002)

R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

73 Metascore

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Alex Palmer

Votes: 447,943 | Gross: $45.06M

20. Kidulthood (2006)

R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

A day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London.

Director: Menhaj Huda | Stars: Aml Ameen, Red Madrell, Noel Clarke, Adam Deacon

Votes: 19,940

21. Brief Encounter (1945)

Not Rated | 86 min | Drama, Romance

92 Metascore

Meeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.

Director: David Lean | Stars: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey

Votes: 44,506

22. Cemetery Junction (2010)

R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama

A 1970s-set comedy centered on three young working class friends in a dreary suburb of Reading.

Directors: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant | Stars: Christian Cooke, Felicity Jones, Tom Hughes, Jack Doolan

Votes: 24,326

23. Billy Elliot (2000)

R | 110 min | Drama, Music

74 Metascore

A talented young boy becomes torn between his unexpected love of dance and the disintegration of his family.

Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jean Heywood, Jamie Draven

Votes: 143,371 | Gross: $22.00M

24. Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

52 Metascore

A disaffected soldier returns to his hometown to get even with the thugs who brutalized his mentally-challenged brother years ago.

Director: Shane Meadows | Stars: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell, Stuart Wolfenden

Votes: 58,793 | Gross: $0.01M

25. A Christmas Carol (1951)

TV-PG | 86 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.

Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns

Votes: 25,852

26. The Full Monty (1997)

R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama

75 Metascore

Six unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.

Director: Peter Cattaneo | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Wim Snape

Votes: 114,728 | Gross: $45.95M

27. Jack & Sarah (1995)

PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A young American woman becomes a nanny in the home of a recent British widower.

Director: Tim Sullivan | Stars: Richard E. Grant, Samantha Mathis, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins

Votes: 5,579 | Gross: $0.22M

28. Withnail & I (1987)

R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama

84 Metascore

In 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.

Director: Bruce Robinson | Stars: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown

Votes: 48,232 | Gross: $1.54M

29. Never Let Me Go (2010)

R | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

69 Metascore

The lives of three friends, from their early school days into young adulthood, when the reality of the world they live in comes knocking.

Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Izzy Meikle-Small

Votes: 154,209 | Gross: $2.43M

30. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

91 Metascore

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.

Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam

Votes: 573,068 | Gross: $1.23M

31. Life of Brian (1979)

R | 94 min | Comedy

77 Metascore

Born on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.

Director: Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam

Votes: 424,096 | Gross: $20.05M

32. This Is England (2006)

Not Rated | 101 min | Crime, Drama

86 Metascore

A young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.

Director: Shane Meadows | Stars: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim

Votes: 129,501 | Gross: $0.33M

33. Battle of Britain (1969)

G | 132 min | Action, Drama, History

In 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.

Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews, Curd Jürgens

Votes: 24,631 | Gross: $4.36M

34. Aces High (1976)

PG | 114 min | Action, Drama, War

In World War I, the high casualty rate amongst the rookie pilots of the Royal Flying Corps puts an enormous strain on the survivors.

Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Christopher Plummer, Simon Ward, Peter Firth

Votes: 3,007

35. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi

77 Metascore

In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke

Votes: 885,895 | Gross: $6.21M

36. The Wicker Man (1973)

R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

87 Metascore

A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.

Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland

Votes: 92,769 | Gross: $0.06M

37. Kes (1969)

PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Family

A working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.

Director: Ken Loach | Stars: David Bradley, Brian Glover, Freddie Fletcher, Lynne Perrie

Votes: 23,102

38. 9 Songs (2004)

Not Rated | 71 min | Drama, Music, Romance

43 Metascore

In London, intense sexual encounters take place between an American college student, named Lisa, and an English scientist, named Matt, between attending rock concerts.

Director: Michael Winterbottom | Stars: Kieran O'Brien, Margo Stilley, Robert Levon Been, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Votes: 24,161 | Gross: $0.05M

39. Fish Tank (2009)

Not Rated | 123 min | Drama

81 Metascore

Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.

Director: Andrea Arnold | Stars: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, Rebecca Griffiths

Votes: 65,431 | Gross: $0.37M

40. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter

Votes: 722,926 | Gross: $56.95M

41. Hunger (2008)

Not Rated | 96 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

82 Metascore

Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.

Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Laine Megaw

Votes: 73,958 | Gross: $0.15M

42. The Third Man (1949)

Approved | 93 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller

97 Metascore

Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.

Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard

Votes: 182,726 | Gross: $0.45M

43. The Red Shoes (1948)

Not Rated | 135 min | Drama, Music, Romance

A young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann

Votes: 39,342 | Gross: $10.90M

44. Children of Men (2006)

R | 109 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.

Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine

Votes: 532,324 | Gross: $35.55M



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